If anyone's noticed, I've been concentrating mainly on stock-based photomanipulations lately. Because I've been using stock, people outside of this community have been telling me I'm not making art, just decolletage, or, worse, stealing other people's art and making it my own. I know that I'm not stealing anything. I've been very careful to thank the stock owners for the use of their material. I post links to them and even to outside sources. But these accusations really upset me, especially since most of my accusers have never seen my work. I now open myself up to my true peers, my fellow deviants. Is what I'm doing, at best, only decolletage or, at worst, plain stealing, or is it art?

Of course it's art! If you painted landscapes, would it not be art because you didn't plant the trees? If you drew a portrait, would it not be art if you used a model?

People are making art out of "found" things all the tiime! These stock artists WANT you to do what you're doing! They want their art to grow in your art! They wouldn't post it as stock art if they didn't!

Seriously, why are you listening to criticism from people who don't know what they're talking about?